Predator 2 originally went through a variety of concepts before the wild city of Los Angeles became the main setting.
As such, Predator and Predator 2 writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas recently spoke about some of the different drafts at a 30th anniversary screening of Predator in an interview (via AvP Galaxy). Jim first explained that they originally focused on bringing back Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character, Dutch:
“We had an idea where at the end [of Predator], with the burned up clearing where the explosion happens… [Predator 2] opens there,” Thomas recalled. “Predator’s invisible feet come into view and a hand plunges down into the dust, into the ashes, and brings up the Predator’s arm and then activates the computer and get’s a readout to see everything that had happened up to that time, focusing on Arnold, and “this is my target.” We went from there and we had to think of how to bring Arnold back into it.”
But since they realized Arnold was no longer interested in doing the sequel, they came up with a much more different and ambitious concept. They figured out a way to bring World War 2 into the mix.
“We also had an idea about doing a World War 2 version in the Battle of the Bulge, in the middle of the winter,” Thomas noted. “A German foot platoon and an American platoon separated, and had a stalemate fighting each other off when the Predator shows up. They have to join together to defeat it. We thought the snow Predator effect would be quite different.”
It certainly sounded awesome, but in a way I’m glad we got to see the crime-infested streets of LA instead. The city seems like a good place for an alien hunter, and Predator 2 offers some good action to go along with it. We’ll see the character next in the upcoming 2018 movie, The Predator.
How do you feel about a Predator sequel set during World War 2? Let us know in the comments section below!